Physical bookstores develop new skills for "live streaming" and "private domain traffic"
Xinhua News Agency, Shanghai, April 5 (Reporter Du Kang and Hu Jiefei) In April, the sales of physical bookstores gradually recovered and the flow of people gradually recovered. But new skills such as "live streaming" and "private domain traffic" have also been retained.
Since the epidemic, the word "house" describes the living conditions of most people. Many physical shops have difficulty in operating. For the physical bookstores that have been affected by e-commerce in recent years, it is even worse. Under the impact, some bookstores faced bankruptcy and some were still holding on silently. At the same time, more and more bookstore people realize that they want to "change".
On March 9, several bookstores such as One-way Street Bookstore, Nanjing Pioneer Bookstore and Hangzhou Xiaofeng Bookstore launched the "Defend Independent Bookstore" live broadcast plan with the live broadcast web celebrities. In fact, "live streaming" has become the choice of many bookstores.
In the e-commerce live broadcast area, you can see book recommendations from various bookstores on various topics. For example, "Take Children Without Traveling Out of Dunhuang" with Dunhuang Science Picture Books, "Children's Classic Classics Do Not Worry with Children" in Disney Series Fairy Tales, "Human Crisis in the Future World" with Science Fiction Themes, and "During the Epidemic Period" Shou Shou "and so on. Taking Shanghai Zhongshuge as an example, according to reports, as of the end of March, its stores had done more than 20 live broadcasts, which were watched by more than 50,000 people.
However, there are mixed reviews on the effects of live broadcasting. Shenyang's "Lihe Bookstore" owner said on Douban that "the effect is surprisingly good! My bookstore can survive!" Zhu Bing, general manager of Shanghai Zhongshuge, said that the conversion rate of live broadcast is not high.
Zhu Bing said that compared with e-commerce, physical bookstores have always been at a disadvantage in terms of price. "It can be said that even if the discount is lower, it is still more expensive than online. Due to the cost of rent and labor, we can't do the same low price as the e-commerce. Buying books in the bookstore is more of a feeling." Zhu Bing said. "Readers come to the store and think it's good here. They are willing to buy a book and are willing to support the bookstore's survival. Perhaps the reader has fancy three books and only buys one book in the store, which is already good."
You can't fight prices, but you have to play emotional cards, so in addition to "live streaming", "private domain traffic" is now a topic of discussion in the industry, how to establish an emotional link with "a handful of people"? "To maintain a good community" "Selling goods can not be row by row, each product must be full of affection. Although it is very troublesome, but very effective." Some shopkeepers said.
Unlike ordinary bookstores that open stores first and then operate the fan community, "Whale" has accumulated a large number of fans before deciding to open a physical store. "We are both an illustration-themed bookstore and a grocery store," said Zhang Ye, the person in charge of "Whale Size". Previously, "Whale Size" had a large number of illustrators who cooperated, regularly publishing illustration books, art newspapers, and displaying and selling in the store. , And sell related cultural and creative products. Zhang Ye believes that physical bookstores should have the consciousness that book sales themselves do not make money, and actively maintain normal operation through other channels such as e-commerce.
The bookstore "Between the Beasts" in the Huangpu Cultural and Creative Industrial Park in Shanghai made it clear that "do not make children's books" and "do not make money by selling books". "Children's book sales have contributed important profits to many bookstores, but may make our target readers feel that the bookstore is not cool enough." This bookstore does not rely on the roadside, the founder Jiang Wei introduced. White-collar workers within three kilometers provide services. "We have developed" advanced book lists "in the fields of economy, history, biology, psychology, etc. We hope to gain word-of-mouth through good book lists." Jiang Wei introduced that the bookstore provides a loan service, and the book price is the same as the e-commerce channel .
Unlike professional bookstores, Zhu Bing believes that "Book +" is not the best way to operate a physical bookstore. Zhu Bing introduced that at present, it is cooperating with the streets, schools and companies for cultural distribution. In 2019, a total of 150 offline events were held. These "off-site sales" also supported bookstore sales during the epidemic.